WORX WG169E.5 20V Cordless Strimmer Review

I’ve just bought a WORX WG169E.5 20V Cordless Strimmer with a 2Ah battery and 1 hour charger despite already having a corded flymo strimmer and a petrol strimmer / brushcutter.

What do you do when you don’t want the hassle, noise and power of a petrol brushcutter but you need more mobility than a corded electric strimmer affords?

Battery Power!

10 years ago battery power wasn’t really an option and even 5 years ago the prices were high but nowadays we’ve got lithium batteries that hold more charge, don’t suffer memory effect and hold their charge whilst not in use for ages. Most importantly they’re becoming affordable.

The Black & Decker strimmer was about £115 and the Worx WG169E.5 £90 at the time so the price difference wasn’t that big a factor. It wasn’t a simple choice – as always balancing different features. The Black & Decker was 36V against the Worx 20V which should give an improved battery life / power and 300 grams lighter but the decider was the Worx having optionally-fitted little wheels so it can be used a bit like a mini flail mower.

I did wonder about how long the battery would last but decided that, if need be, I could pick up an extra battery to swap over for around £40 It’s supposed to last about 30 minutes but how long do I actually strim per session?

One thing I did like was that the cutting cord is auto-dispensed (on both strimmers) so no more frantic bumping the head onto the ground to extend the cord. Replacement 10 metre reels are pretty cheap for the Worx WG169E.5, around £3 but can be re-wound with your own string if you want to save a few pennies

Price drop on WORX WG169E.5 20V Cordless Strimmer!

I ordered the machine on Sunday for delivery on Thursday. Well on the Wednesday they dropped the price by £17.50 to £72.49. I was not best pleased so rang them up to moan. Can’t complain, I hadn’t finished the call and they’d credited the £17.50!

Testing the WORX WG169E.5 20V Cordless Strimmer

It’s well packaged with clear instructions once you’ve got past the pages of safety instructions. I promise I won’t use it in the nude and if I do I’ll keep any dangly bits away from the cutting head.

Minimal assembly required, which requires a screwdriver and and two minutes. The battery has to be charged which takes less than an hour. Incidentally, if you’re in a rush, it will charge up to 80% capacity in just 30 minutes.

We’ve had 40 mm of rain over the last 24 hours so things are pretty damp but it stopped raining for a bit which gave me a chance for a quick go with the strimmer outside. The WORX WG169E.5 20V Cordless Strimmer isn’t quite as powerful as I expected from the Amazon information. It will cope with long grass and young nettles but older nettles with their tough, fibrous stalks take a bit more work. As expected, it can’t kill a large mature thistle

On the plus side, it’s amazingly convenient. No cable to pay out and disentangle. No engine to fuel and start. Just pick it up, unfold and start strimming. When it’s finished the shaft telescopes into itself and the head is easily flipped up so it stores very neatly in a small space.

I’ve not had chance to run the battery down yet but the charger is very quick (1 hour) and, as I said, a second swap-over battery if you think you need it, only costs around £40. I find it almost magical that you can run a tool like this from a battery that I’d expect to see on a cordless drill.

If you own any other tools in the same Powershare battery platform range, you’ll have spare batteries around anyway!

WORX WG169E.5 20V Cordless Strimmer Review Conclusion

It’s well worth the money, especially at the reduced price. Very easy and convenient to use but not as powerful as I hoped for. Perfectly adequate for a normal garden and just about up to using for a grass path at an allotment plot